Newton teams grab huge 5-2A wins

Robbie Robertson/Publisher
The Newton Record

NEWTON December 14, 2007 12:09 pm

— For the past four years, Newton and Philadelphia have staged some of the best high school girls basketball games in the area.
Last Tuesday night’s game is bound to be among those.
Although they have struggled with consistency, the Lady Tigers found the right combination against their friendly rivals and came away with a hard-fought 67-64 victory to take an early lead in the Division 5-2A race.
“Our winning may have been a surprise to some people because of the way we have played but it wasn’t a surprise to me,” Porter said. “I knew we had the potential to do that all along. We will play well in spurts, it’s just that we played well the majority of the game this time.
“We got some good play from Tiara. When she plays well, we usually do well. When she doesn’t, the other kids are looking around for somebody else to score. But I thought the difference was how Shakara Edwards handled the pressue and handled the team.”
After leading just 11-10 in the first period, Newton took advantage of some cold shooting from Philadelphia to outscore the Lady Tornadoes 21-14 in the second period to take a 32-24 lead into the half.
Philadelphia, which started the season ranked in the Clarion-Ledger Super 10 and ranked No. 4 in Class 2A, fought back and tied the score in the third period by outscoring Newton 20-12 in the third to tie the score at 44-44 going into the fourth.
In the fourth, Newton used a 23-20 advantage to take the win.
“They have tremendous guards in Tiara Logan and Danielle Cole,” Porter said. “We weren’t going to let them kill us like they have in the past. But where they have hurt us in the past is pressuring our guards and they weren’t able to do that. Shakara is so quick, that the pressure doesn’t bother her, she can just dribble around it.”
Buckley had a breakout game with 31 points while Shey Nichols had 14 points. Edwards also chipped in 11 points.
Newton will return to action this week with a non-division home contest against Class 5A Columbus. On Friday, Newton will return to 5-2A play when they travel to Lake. Then on Saturday, Newton will travel to Noxubee and take on Jackson Wingfield, another 5A team that made it to the Big House last year.

Newton boys 65, Philly 51
The Tigers jumped out to a 29-8 lead in the first period and cruised to the 14-point win over the Tornadoes in the 5-2A opener for both teams.
“We played a lot of people,” Porter said. “There isn’t any since in beating somebody by 50 points. I’ve been on the other end of that and it isn’t fun. We got to play a lot of younger kids and get them some experience.”
After jumping out to the 21-point lead, the Tigers outscored the Tornadoes 17-12 in the second period to lead 46-20 at the half.
In all, 14 Tigers scored as Steve Edwards led the way with 11 points. Chucky Curry had 10 points while Brandon Gill had eight, Kevin Harris seven and Antonio Grace six.

Newton boys 68, Forest 48
In a key early season Division 5-2A matchup, the Tigers of Newton got a little revenge on their counterparts from Forest.
Just a week ago, Forest beat Newton in the semifinals of the East Central Community College Tournament in a game that Porter thought his team could have won had it not been for “outside influences.”
And the Tigers got the 20-point win without starting point guard Antonio Grace, who was still suffering the effects of having the flu.
“That was a big win,” Porter said. “For our guys to go in there and beat them like that without Antonio, that says a lot about them. Blake (Hodge) and Keondre (Hodges) did a good job of running the point for us. Steve (Edwards) was unconscious from the field. He hit everything he looked at and did a good job of keeping them off balance by taking the ball to the hoop. But I think the big thing is we were able to keep (Lavadius) Lyles from hurting us as much as he did at East Central. We just did a good job of playing defense.”
Newton, now 6-3 on the season, jumped out to a 16-12 lead after the first period and led 34-22 at the half. Newton extended that lead in the third period by outscoring Forest 23-15 for a 57-37 lead going into the final period.
Edwards had a season-high 31 points while Keondre Hodges had 15 points. Lyles led Forest with 16 points.

Newton girls 50, Forest 44
Perhaps still basking in the glow of their huge victory over Philadelphia, the Lady Tigers fell behind early to Forest.
But it didn’t take long for Newton to get on track as the Lady Tigers outscored the Lady Bearcats 11-5 in the second period and 19-10 in the third to take the win.
Shakara Edwards led Newton with 12 points while tineshia Evans, Shey Nichols and Tiara Buckley each had nine points apiece in a balanced scoring attack.